1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a continuous-feed furnace assembly and processes for preparing and continuously thermally exfoliating graphite oxide to give a highly exfoliated graphite.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a need in the art for an improved process for drying graphite oxide produced by a Staudenmaier synthesis (Staudenmaier, L., Ber. Dtsh. Chem. Ges., 1898, 31, 1484), or variants thereof such as in WO 2007/047084 (Prud'homme et al.) or WO 2009/018204. The resulting dried graphite oxide would be sufficiently dry and primed for exfoliation that it could be thermally exfoliated to give the aforementioned highly exfoliated graphite, preferably an ultrahighly exfoliated graphite having a BET surface area of 900 square meters per gram (m2/g) or higher. There is also a need in the art for a continuous process (as opposed to a batch process) of thermally exfoliating graphite oxide, especially the purified graphite oxide, to give the highly exfoliated graphite.